The Firebender and the Sky Bison
by keylee
Summary: A short drabble on the history of Zuko and Appa's friendship, along with cute Zuppa bonding.


**Reflections on Zuko's thoughts and previous encounters with Appa...**

Zuko watched curiously as the lemur and the bison glared at each other from either side of the courtyard. They appeared to be locked in an intense staring contest; however, both of them were really eyeing the big prize in the middle of the courtyard: a sour old melon.

Without warning, Momo made a swift move towards the fruit, and Appa immediately charged into battle. They fought hard, but neither animal seemed willing to give up.

It was quite a ridiculous scene: with a just a small gulp of air, the giant sky bison could easily suck in and swallow the annoying little creature. Or he could just pin him down with one of his huge feet. And yet, the lemur didn't seem to sense any danger, and continued battling Appa for the rotted fruit as though he thought that he would die of starvation without it.

Appa was no quitter, though, and after a sudden and thunderous roar, the frightened lemur darted back several feet and looked on forlornly as the bison triumphantly swallowed the fruit.

Momo hissed angrily at Appa for stealing his only sustenance. Almost pitying the animal, Zuko rolled his eyes and sighed. He was planning on eating some of the melon in his hand, but instead, he gave it to the lemur, hoping to shut the annoying thing up. Momo's bright round eyes looked at Zuko with a mixture of awe and gratefulness, as though he had never seen such kindness from someone before. That, or he couldn't believe that the mean-looking firebender would do anything as nice as this.

Zuko gave him a small smile, and tried to reach down to pet the little animal, but all of a sudden, Momo snatched the fruit from his hands and darted off into the bushes; safe from Appa and his several hungry stomachs.

Figuring that he had nothing else to do for a while, Zuko walked over and stood next to the giant bison, absentmindedly scratching its furry head to pass time. Appa let out a huge yawn, making Zuko feel rather tired himself. Before he knew it, Zuko began to doze off.

"_What is that?" Zuko yelled as a giant flying thing came into view. He had never seen anything soar like that in his entire life; what sort of animal that could defy gravity?_

_Then, almost on cue, the young Avatar replied excitedly: "Appa!"_

What's an Appa?_ Zuko thought. Whatever it was, it was clearly not on his side, so he was determined to keep it from getting near his ship…and especially the Avatar._

Clearly wanting to remind Zuko that he was still there and needed more scratching, Appa gave him a mighty slurp; breaking through the young prince's daydream.

"Ah!" Zuko frantically wiped the saliva away and glared irritably at the bison. His calm brown eyes blinked innocently in return. Slightly annoyed with the animal's impatience, Zuko began walking the length of the creature's body; massaging the tangled masses of fur as he went. He spotted a few old burn marks on Appa's fur; he certainly hoped that he wasn't to blame for those. As he moved, Zuko remember his first time on Appa…

"_No, if we leave him, he'll die," Aang said. He effortlessly lifted the prince onto the bison's saddle and somewhere in the world of the awake and living, Zuko briefly heard a "Yip! Yip!"_

_Zuko was slowly gaining his consciousness back, but had decided it would be wise to pretend he was still out cold. He felt the bitter North Pole air whipping at his hands and face; below him, he felt a gentle swooping sensation. They were flying._

_Had he woken up, he would have been unable to do anything. His arms were tied up in a strong knot, and he knew better than to try and fight against the Avatar while in the sky. After all, the airbender was the one who could defy gravity, not him, the firebender._

_And really, the kids could just push him off the saddle if he tried fighting them; a fate Zuko certainly did not wish to experience._

_So he remained there with his eyes shut for some time, until the swooping feeling and harsh breeze went away. They had landed. _

_Zuko heard everyone get out of the saddle; that was when he furiously broke free of his bondage by burning through the rope, and leaped off of the bison. During his escape, he tried his best not to be noticed. Zuko nearly managed to run away undetected, but looking back, he saw the giant animal eyeing him. Appa saw him._

Zuko grinned good-naturedly.

"For an animal, you're pretty observant," he informed the bison. He felt slightly absurd afterwards…he _was _talking to an animal after all…

But when Appa grunted a response, it was almost as though he had understood Zuko anyways. Even back under Lake Laogai, Zuko noted, Appa seemed to understand human speech unusually well. His actions while Iroh was yelling at his nephew were so…humanlike…now, Zuko saw this as amazing. Back then, he had nearly ignored the bison completely; his only use for it was a tool in his quest for the Avatar.

He had eventually made the decision to cut the animal's chains using his broadswords and release him. Zuko had never felt so conflicted in his entire life after that event, seeing that he had just willingly given up one of his few remaining chances at getting at the Avatar.

But this small action had paid off massively when it came to the time where Zuko was pleading his friends to let him join their group.

"_Hey, I heard you guys flying around down there so...I just thought I'd wait for you here."_

_Zuko stood awkwardly at the end of the temple's outdoor hall, quite unsure of what their responses would be. He wondered who would get to yell at him first. Probably the Water Tribe girl…she definitely hated him the most…_

_Instead, Zuko looked up in panic as the giant bison let out a deafening roar right into his ear. Before Zuko could get out of the hungry creature's way, its massive tongue appeared and licked him. Zuko surely thought it was just preparing to eat him alive, but he was wrong again. The warm, moist tongue returned and covered him in sticky, clear slime._

_Zuko let out a disgruntled noise and desperately tried wiping the disgusting bison slobber off of him. He couldn't worry himself with looking bad right now…_

Getting licked by a giant monster when you are more nervous than you have ever been in your entire life is not a pleasant experience. Later on, Toph had noted that Appa seemed to like him because he had licked Zuko. After that, a wave of relief washed over him; so it wasn't going to eat him after all. Licking must be Appa's odd way of showing affection.

Zuko then remembered how disappointed he had felt on his first real ride on Appa. He had been conscious this time, but it was a maddeningly dull experience.

"_We've been riding for hours. I don't know why, but I thought this thing would be a lot faster," Zuko grumbled impatiently._

_Appa grunted in a language that apparently only Aang could understand._

"_Appa's right Zuko, usually we start off our missions with a more upbeat attitude."_

_Zuko groaned inwardly, but had to wonder how in the world that monk could understand what the bison was saying. Perhaps he just made it up to further prove his point?_

"_Ugh…figures," Zuko rolled his eyes and sat back, staring at the clouds. The first real time he had been on Appa at the North Pole had seemed so much more…exciting. Perhaps it was the odd thrill he had gotten from being surrounded by enemies? Now…he was just sitting around trying to make decent conversation with the one person whom had made his life extremely difficult in the last year. Boring indeed._

Aang had once mentioned that Appa had a fear of fire. While he remembered to keep their training practices away from the bison, Zuko still wondered if the same held true for firebenders? If that was true, then Appa sure wasn't good at showing it; he had fallen asleep during Zuko's full body massage, much to Zuko's amusement.

"Spoiled beast," Zuko muttered almost affectionately. Appa snorted softly in reply, but didn't wake up.

After an hour or so, Zuko walked up to the front of Appa's body and lay down on one of the bison's many legs. It was comfortable and warm; just like his old bed was back in the Fire Nation, but somehow, Appa was better. Zuko was exhausted; he had already spent much of the day training Aang, and now he had just blown his last hour of daylight petting a giant sky bison.

While rubbing his eyes, he felt Appa shift his weight under him, but he was careful not to crush Zuko. Smiling to himself, Zuko patted Appa on the shoulder one last time and drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

Just as the firebender fell asleep, Katara appeared from behind a corner around the house. She was shuffling through some old scrolls, clearly unaware that he was sleeping.

"Hey Zuko, can you…" she trailed off and dropped some of the scrolls as she flung her hand to her mouth. It was the sweetest sight: Zuko, the normally moody and stiff prince, was sleeping like a baby mooselion on Appa's leg. Appa had dozed off as well; it appeared that the bison and the boy had grown fond of each other after all.

Grinning to herself, Katara decided to let the two rest for a while, and she silently tiptoed back into the house. Once inside, she smirked as she looked at Appa and Zuko from a window. Sure, she'd let him have his peace now, but once he woke up…

"Zuko's never going to live this down."

**Did you guys like it? Reviews are appreciated! :D**


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